Unit 4 Brain Man.docx
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Unit 4 Brain Man.docx
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Unit4BrainMan
Unit4BrainMan
Almost25yearsago,60MinutesintroducedviewerstoGeorgeFinn,whosetalentwasimmortalized使名垂千古inthemovie"RainMan."Georgehasaconditionknownassavantsyndrome学者症候群,amysteriousdisorderofthebrainwheresomeonehasaspectacularskill,evengenius,inamindthatisotherwiseextremelylimited.
MorleySafermetanothersavant,DanielTammet,whoiscalled"BrainMan"inBritain.Butunlikemostsavants,hehasnoobviousmentaldisability,andmostimportanttoscientists,hecandescribehisownthoughtprocess.HemayverywellbeascientificRosettastone罗塞达石头比喻可靠线索,akeytounderstandingthebrain.
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Backin1983,GeorgeFinn,blessedorobsessed着迷的withcalendarcalculation,couldgiveyouthedayifyougavehimthedate.
"WhatdayoftheweekwasAugust13th,1911?
"SaferquizzedFinn.
"ASunday,"Finnreplied.
"WhatdayoftheweekwasMay20th,1921?
"Saferasked.
"Friday,"Finnanswered.
GeorgeFinnisasavant.Inmorepoliticallyincorrecttimeshewouldhavebeencalledan"idiotsavant"-amentallyhandicapped=disabilityorautistic自闭症personwhosebrainsomehowpossessesanislandofbrilliance.
Askedifheknewhowhedoesit,FinntoldSafer,"Idon'tknow,butit'sjustthat,that'sfantasticIcandothat."
Ifthisallseemsfamiliar,thereisareason:
fiveyearsafterthe60Minutesbroadcast,DustinHoffmanimmortalizedsavantslikeGeorgeinthemovie"RainMan."
Whichbringsustothatothersavantwementioned:
DanielTammet.HeisanEnglishman,whoisa27-year-oldmathandmemorywizard=talent.
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"IwasbornNovember8th,1931,"Saferremarks.
"Uh-huh.That'saprimenumber.1931.AndyouwerebornonaSunday.Andthisyear,yourbirthdaywillbeonaWednesday.Andyou'llbe75,"TammettellsSafer.
Itisestimatedthereareonly50truesavantslivingintheworldtoday,andyetnonearelikeDaniel.Heisarticulate善于表达的,self-sufficient自给自足的,blessed/obsessedwithallofthespectacularabilityofasavant,butwithverylittleofthedisability.Takehismathskill,forexample.
Askedtomultiply31by31by31by31,Tammetquickly-andaccurately-respondedwith"923,521."
Anditisnotjustcalculating.Hisgiftofmemoryisstunning令人震惊的.Brieflyshowhimalongnumericalsequenceandhewillreciteitrightbacktoyou.Andhecandoitbackwards,toboot并且,除此以外.
Thatfeat=skillisjustawarm-upforDanielTammet.HefirstmadeheadlinesatOxford,whenhepubliclyrecitedtheendlesssequenceofnumbersembodiedbytheGreekletter"Pi."Pi,thenumbersweusetocalculatethedimensionsofacircle,areusuallyroundedoffto3.14.Butitsnumbersactuallygoontoinfinity.
Danielstudiedthesequence-athousandnumberstoapage.
"AndIwouldsitandIwouldgorge狼吞虎咽onthem.AndIwouldjustabsorbhundredsandhundredsatatime,"hetellsSafer.
IttookhimseveralweekstoprepareandthenDanielheadedtoOxford,wherewithnumbercrunchers会计师等捣鼓数字的人checkingeverydigit=number,heopenedthefloodgates防洪闸门ofhisextraordinarymemory.记忆如洪水猛兽
Tammetsayshewasabletorecite,inaproperorder,22,514numbers.Ittookhimoverfivehoursandhediditwithoutasinglemistake.
Scientistssayamemoryfeatlikethisistrulyextraordinary.Dr.V.S.RamachandranandhisteamattheCaliforniaCenterforBrainStudytestedDanielextensivelyafterhisPiachievement.
Whatdidhemakeofhim?
"Iwassurprisedathowarticulate善于表达的andintelligenthewas,andwasabletointeractsociallyandintrospect内省内观onhisown-abilities,"saysDr.Ramachandran.
Andwhilethatintrospectionisextremelyrareamongsavants,Daniel’sabilitytodescribehowhismindworkscouldbeinvaluabletoscientistsstudyingthebrain,ourleastunderstoodorgan.
"EvenhowyouandIdo17minusnineisabigmystery.Youknow,howaretheselittlewispsofjelly胶状物inyourbraindoingthatcomputation?
Wedon'tknowthat,"Dr.Ramachandranexplains.
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Itmayseemtodefy违背逻辑logic,butRamachandranbelievesthatasavant’sgeniuscouldactuallyresultfrombraininjury."Onepossibilityisthatmanyotherpartsofthebrainarefunctioningabnormallyorsub-normally低能的.Andthisallowsthepatienttoallocate分配allhisattentionalresources注意力totheoneremainingpart,"heexplains."Andthere'salotofclinical临床数据可以佐证evidenceforthis.Somepatientshaveastrokeandsuddenly,theirartisticskillsimprove."
ThattheoryfitswellwithDaniel.Attheageoffour,hesufferedamassiveepilepticseizure突发癫痫.Hebelievesthatseizurecontributedtohiscondition.Numberswerenolongersimplynumbersandhehaddevelopedararecrossingofthesensesknownassynesthesia通感.
"Iseenumbersinmyheadascolorsandshapesandtextures.SowhenIseealongsequence,thesequenceformslandscapesinmymind,"Tammetexplains."Everynumberupto10,000,Icanvisualizeinthisway,hasit'sowncolor,hasit'sownshape,hasit'sowntexture."
Forexample,whenDanielsaysheseesPi,hedoesthoseinstantcomputations,heisnotcalculating,butsaystheanswersimplyappearstohimasalandscapeofcolorfulshapes.
"Theshapesaren'tstatic静态的.They'refullofcolor.They'refulloftexture.Inasense,they'refulloflife,"hesays.
Askedifthey’rebeautiful,Tammetsays,"Notallofthem.Someofthemareugly.289isanuglynumber.Idon'tlikeitverymuch.Whereas333,forexample,isbeautifultome.It'sround.It's."
"Chubby圆满的,"Saferremarks.
'It's-yes.It'schubby,'Tammetagrees.
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Yetevenwiththedevelopmentoftheseextraordinaryabilitiesasachild,nobodysensedthatDanielwasaprodigy天才,includinghismother,Jennifer.Buthewasdifferent.
"Hewasconstantlycountingthings,"Jenniferremembers."Ithink,whatfirstattractedhimtobooks,wastheactualnumbersoneachpage.Andhejustlovedcounting."
Askedifshethinksthere’saconnectionbetweenhisepilepsy癫痫andhisraretalent,shetellsSafer,"Hewasalwaysdifferentfrom-whenhewasreallyafewweeksold,Inoticedhewasdifferent.SoI'mnotsurethatit'sentirelythat,butIthinkitmighthaveescalated加剧增强it."
DanielwasalsodiagnosedwithAsperger’sSyndrome阿斯伯特征状群轻度孤僻症-amildformofautism.Itmadeforapainfulchildhood.
"Iwouldflapmyhands拍手sometimeswhenIwasexcited,orpullatmyfingers,andpullatmylips,"Tammetremembers."Andofcourse,thechildrensawthesethingsandwouldrepeatthembacktome,andteasemeaboutthem.AndIwouldputmyfingersinmyearsandcountveryquicklyinpowersoftwo.Two,four,eight,16,32,64."
"Numbersweremyfriends.Andtheyneverchanged.So,theywerereliable.Icouldtrustthem,"hesays.
Andyet,Danieldidnotretreat并未彻底撤退摆脱fullyintothatmysteriousprisonofautism,asmanysavantsdo.Hebelieveshislargefamilymayhaveactuallyforcedhimtoadapt.
"Becausemyparents,havingninechildren,hadsomuchtodo,somuchtocopewith,IrealizedIhadtodoformyself,"hesays.
Henowrunshisownonlineeducationalbusiness.HeandhispartnerNeiltrytokeepalowprofile保持低调,despitehisgrowingfame.
Yetthelimitsofhisautismarealwaysthere."Ifinditdifficulttowalkinthestreetsometimesiftherearelotsofpeoplearoundme.Ifthere'slotsofnoise,Iputmyfingersinmyearstoblockitout,'hesays.
Thatanxietykeepshimclosetohome.Hecan’tdrive,rarelygoesshopping,andfindsthebeachadifficultplacebecauseofhiscompulsion冲动tocountthegrainsofsand.Anditmanifests表明证明itselfinotherways,likemakingaveryprecisemeasurementofhiscereal谷类eachmorning:
itmustbeexactly45gramsofporridge,nomore,noless.
Clip5
DanielwasrecentlyprofiledinaBritishdocumentarycalledBrainman.Theproducers制片人posedachallengethathecouldnotpassup:
Learnaforeignlanguageinaweek-andnotjustanyforeignlanguage,butIcelandic冰岛语,consideredtobeoneofthemostdifficultlanguagestolearn.
InIceland,hestudiedandpracticedwithatutor.WhenthemomentoftruthcameandheappearedonTVlivewithahost,thehostsaid,"Iwasamazed.Hewasrespondingtoourquestions.HedidunderstandthemverywellandIthoughtthathisgrammarwasverygood.Weareveryproudofourlanguageandthatsomeoneisabletospeakitafteronlyoneweek,that’sjustgreat."
"DoyouthinkthatDaniel,inacertainway,representsarealpathwaytofurtherunderstandingthebrain?
"SaferasksDr.Ramachandran.
"Ithinkonecouldsaythattimeandagaininscience,somethingthatlookslikeacuriosityinitiallyoftenleadstoacompletelynewdirectionofresearch,"Ramachandranreplies."Sometimes,theyprovidethegoldenkey.Doesn'talwayshappen.Sometimesit'sjustmumbo-jumbo莫名其妙的.Butthatmaywellbetruewithsavants."
Danielcontinuestovolunteerforscientistswhowanttounderstandhisamazingbrain.Butheisreluctanttobecomewhathecallsaperformingseal驯养表演的海豹andhasrefusedmostofferstocashinon变现。
拒绝了许多靠他的特殊技能赚钱的邀请hisremarkableskills.
"Peopleallthetimeaskingmetochoosenumbersforthelottery.Ortoinventatimemachine.Ortocomeupwithsomegreatdiscovery,"heexplains."ButmyabilitiesarenotthosethatmeanthatIcandoateverything."
Buthehaswrittenabookabouthisexperiences,entitled"BornonaBlueDay."
Healsodoesmotivationalspeechesforparentsofautisticchildren-yetonemoregiftofhisremarkablebrain.
Butattheendoftheday-geniusornot-thatbraindoesworkalittledifferently.
"Onehourafterweleavetoday,andIwillnotrememberwhatyoulooklike.AndIwillfinditdifficulttorecognizeyou,ifIseeyouagain.Iwillrememberyourhandkerchief手帕.AndIwillrememberyouhavefourbuttonsonyoursleeve.AndI'llr
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